On first impressions at least, Ryse ­appears to be the runt of the Xbox One’s litter of launch exclusives.

A swords-and-sandals slasher that feels like a halfway house between Gears and God of War, it seems very much like a current gen wolf in the next generation’s clothing.

You control Marius Titus, a Roman general who appears to be based on authentic period warrior Russell Crowe.

The plot is under wraps but creators Crytek have promised an “epic tale of revenge spanning an entire lifetime” – presumably taking in a spell as a disgraced Gladiator fighting under the tutelage of the late Oliver Reed.

It ­appears this will be achieved via combo combat peppered with what look ­suspiciously like quick time events – but which the developers assure us are not. Unlike traditional QTEs, it’s ­impossible to fluff Ryse’s flamboyant executions. Instead, skilled players are rewarded with buffs based on the ­timing of their button presses – a ­system Crytek ­optimistically calls “mashing to mastery”.

Tellingly, Ryse started out as a current gen Kinect title.

When I asked the developers what Ryse will do on Xbox One that it couldn’t on a 360, they ­enthused about how it would take the old console’s entire graphics memory just to render the new game’s smoke and explained how there was more tech in ­Marius’s eye than an entire character now.

The old Kinect ­controls have wisely been ­reduced to voice commands and here at least Ryse tries something ­different. We’re told that leadership will play a large part in proceedings and players can bark orders to make ­Marius’s reinforcements change formations or attack specific targets.

Of course, not every next-gen game has to rewrite the rulebook and Ryse will live or die by how much fun it makes living and dying. And with the game’s large-scale battlefields still to be revealed, perhaps this Son of Rome’s eagle will soar come November.